Discus on 155 litres per day?

[Doug Osborn]

Hi All,

The Vic govt has recently announced (http://www.ourwater.vic.gov.au/target155) a water consumption target of 155 litres per person per day (no allowances for fish) ;-)

Has anyone got tips on reducing water consumption while keeping water quality high?

Cheers,
Doug

[lpiasente]

Maybe putting out some buckets to collect the rain if it comes your way. Smaller daily water changes. How many tanks do you have?

[taksan]

Ummm ...Water Restrictions

Water used for the life support of animals is exempt.

[Doug Osborn]

I haven't stocked my tank yet, still thinking about things like the impact of water restrictions on set-up. It's a big tank though, holding around 850l.

A 50% daily water change would be the equivalent of using the water allocation for close to 3 people (near a whole household's worth I guess). 155,000l of water a year.

I'm not sure that water used for life support for animals is exempt, the official statements around water restrictions and animals all seem to be along the lines of:


Animal Husbandry (keeping/raising/breeding
of animals). Water may be used for animal consumption and the cleaning of animals and birds. A hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle may be used to clean pens, yards and cages.

and there's also


Dam or Tank. A dam or tank may be filled or topped up for the purposes of fire fighting, public health or livestock use. For any other purposes, written permission must be granted by your local water utility.

Both from here (http://www.southeastwater.com.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/Water%20Restrictions/Stage%203a%20Detail%20Fact%20Sheet_11July08.pdf). Domestic use appears to be domestic use, and livestock something different to pets.

So it's not clear, but I've asked and will report back. Regardless, spending 2+ people's daily water supply on a hobby is ethically challenging, so I'm interested in learning about other's strategies for water changes under water restrictions, eg:

- lower stocking levels
- greater filtration (diatom filter and RO then half the water change?)
- juveniles/adults only?
- more plants
- set up something to use the water from the fish tank on the garden and cut out watering?
- use fish tank water in grey water recycling?
- install rainwater tanks

Anyone?

Cheers,
Doug

[Kokoro]

If you get a decent amount of rain, then rainwater tanks are definately worth having. You just need to be careful of pH swings. My tapwater's so hard here that I can achieve my target hardness by mixing 5L tapwater to 20L rainwater. I think crushed coral can also be used to raise hardness and avoid tapwater all together.

With a lower stocking level, you shouldn't need to change as much as 50% per day, and plants should help a little with this, but only if the tank's heavily planted

[Doug Osborn]

Finally got to speak to my local water authority yesterday and no, household water used in fish tank water changes is NOT exempt from water restrictions, caps, etc.

It does come under your household's consumption of water, so as water restrictions bite you might be targeted as a high water consumer and asked to explain and cut back.

I think that the general unavailability of water in Australia is probably the greatest challenge discus-keeping faces. There simply isn't sufficient water in most states to keep going with significant daily water changes.

So again, any strategies keeping discus under water restrictions?

Cheers,
Doug

[DIY]

How about something outside the box... :shock:

Lets's say you breed.. even a handful of guppies for instance. You keep track of all expenses, electricity, water etc. You also keep track of all sales (probably only a few $) - especially sales to LFS etc.

You register yourself as a fish breeding business, and submit a tax return for your business - unless you get exceptional $$ and are really good at keeping expenses down you will be making a loss so you won't need to pay more tax than you already are, although you will have to pay for the business registaration and for a tax accountant to prepare your return.

Now - can you explain to the water authority / have a larger water usage quota as you are a fish breeding business? I don't see why not.... :?

[jesx57]

Ugh. Water restrictions are so annoying. Yet again, you could opt for a rainwater tank if they allow it, I even think you can get a rebate. Might be worth looking into. We live in a rural area with 3 rainwater tanks. We haven't run out of water yet :).

[pink66]

Just because I like to be argumentative 8-) - how do the water police know how many people live in the house??? Obviously if you have 3 or 8 there is a very large difference in allowance???

I am sooooo going down the track of tanks, only one flaw in my "brilliant" plan - you need rain to fill it. - drat, I will ask Santa for some rain for Christmas :wink:

In the meantime, the QT tank continues to get 40 ltrs per day. The africans are down to 200ltrs - every 2 weeks (pushing the envelope there) and the Discus display gets 300 ltrs every 7 days (down from 5).. now having issues holding ph for the whole 7 days .. have added shell grit but am concerned that it is falling at all - there is always a reason - will need to speak to them about "less poo" :roll: :lol:

Oh and DIY, I like your line of thinking :D :D

We certainly live in a challenging environment and I am sure we will come up with very inventive ways to keep our little fishy friends happy.. Funny, as a kid living in the bush on tanks it was just the norm saving water.... but I must say, I never had any fish to care for :shock: I cannot imaging being without them.. Roll On Rain !!!!!!!

[1fish2fish3fish]

dont you have a "Census" out there.. which is a count/survey done every few yrs to find out the population..
thats how they would tell..
thats how they can state.. population 2300 on a town sign..

[stormhenge]

in order to reduce the amount of water changes necessary required per tank, you could invest in a system that utilizes anaerobic bacteria for the reduction of nitrates, buy activated carbon for food for the bacteria, and invest in an extra pump/air stone to help discharge the bad gases released by the bacteria.

and in order to keep the mineral content of the water and the ph at a normal level, head to your lfs and buy some minerals for the water and a non phosphate ph buffer.

[Dkarc]

Feed a cleaner food (pellets) and lay off the beefheart. Cleaner foods equal fewer water changes/higher water quality.